[BayAreaHillbilly]

Those stacks at the power plant ... quite a landmark, which can be seen for miles around. At night time they look sort of cool with all the warning lights for aircraft. I can't decide which is cooler. Seeing them whilst driving by on I-75 or from 38K feet on an SFO - NYC flight.

[Coldjensens]

We visit Monroe from time to time on nice weekends. Usually we go down just to check things out or try to visit the battlefield (which always seems to be closed when we get there) and we end up going to garage sales. Monroe always seems to have lots of nice Garage sales.

We looked into living there when we moved to MI and did a lot of research and visited some houses for sale. I liked it a lot, but it was too far from where I needed to be.

There are some fabulous houses downtown with all kinds of great archtiecture and features. We considered a three story italianate that was just beautiful inside and out. OSMe of the adjoining properties were less than ideal, but it was in walking distance of downtown and the river. Some people told us that the river gets smelly in the summer. Maybe they just did nto like us and wanted to scare us away.

We found it very Catholic oriented, but not exclusive. There is a very nice good sized Methodist church among others. Schools are not so good, but the cathloic school is pretty well rated and they welcome non-catholics according to the person that I talked to there.

When you get outside the city, some of the deals are amazing. Big beautiful homes with lots of land for little money (by comparison). We looked at one place that was 5 acres, part of the property bordered the river, or a river, I assume it was the raisin, but do not remember, are the others? The house was around 5000 s.f. and had a neat design. It was not pretty outside, but beautiful inside with lots of neat decks and patios. The price was around $500,000 and that was before the crash. We mostly like historic homes and there was not much available outside of the downtwon area, but there were some real beautiful historic homes int eh city and some amazing modern(ish) places outside the city. Some of the outside places were nice enough to make us willing to forgo our love for historic homes.

The city itself is a bit rundown and lots of stores are empty, or contain lame businesses like government services or insurance. Still there was enough there to make it an attractive downtown. There were some nice pocket areas with decent restaurants and a few nice shops. All of the people that we met were very friendly and down to earth (unless the people who said that the river gets stinky, we only pretending to be friendly).

For us the big problems were schools and distance to DTW and to our relatives who mostly live north of Ann Arbor. (And the proximity to Ohio. Having both graduated from U-M, we have a bit o problem with the smell of a buckeye). Otherwise,we like Monroe quite a lot

[Violetdream]

Bumping an old thread since we are moving to Monroe next month. My family & I just moved back to the Detroit Metro area after living seven years in the Tampa area. We did put an offer on an adorable home (I really wanted an old home with character) but, the heroin epidemic has me very concerned.

The home is just off of E 6th st. & Laplaisance rd. (How in the world do you pronounce that name? Lol!)

I'm not too concerned about schools, since I have homeschooled off & on the past 15 years.

We jumped on this house because it has historic charm, kitchen is perfect for me, tons of updates, and a very low price. But, I just recently heard of the issue with heroin, and that really scares me.

I am surprised in general how the crime has gotten so bad in Metro Detroit in the past 7 years (Redford, to be exact.)

So, help a worried Mom here. And yes, I am so very glad to be back home. :-)

[MS313]

Originally Posted by Violetdream

Bumping an old thread since we are moving to Monroe next month. My family & I just moved back to the Detroit Metro area after living seven years in the Tampa area. We did put an offer on an adorable home (I really wanted an old home with character) but, the heroin epidemic has me very concerned.

The home is just off of E 6th st. & Laplaisance rd. (How in the world do you pronounce that name? Lol!)

I'm not too concerned about schools, since I have homeschooled off & on the past 15 years.

We jumped on this house because it has historic charm, kitchen is perfect for me, tons of updates, and a very low price. But, I just recently heard of the issue with heroin, and that really scares me.

I am surprised in general how the crime has gotten so bad in Metro Detroit in the past 7 years (Redford, to be exact.)

So, help a worried Mom here. And yes, I am so very glad to be back home. :-)

Redford is fine... idk about a heroin epidemic . It definitely isn't some drug infested war zone though. Most communities in Metro Detroit are still fine.

[Coldjensens]

There is a nationwide heroine epidemic. It is not getting a lot of attention. It has spread to small middle/upper middle class towns all over the place. Doctors are oversubscribing narcotic pain killers and people get addicted. Then they either graduate to heroine or get cut off the pain killers and switch to heroine. A lot of people are dying. the problem is not unique to Monroe or Redford or anyplace in particular. It is occurring in Lyon Township, Novi, Plymouth, Ann Arbor. . . everywhere. It is the same across the country. It is not more or less prevalent in Michigan than elsewhere.

it is not clear why it is being kept quiet. There has been a little media attention to it but not much.

[MS313]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

There is a nationwide heroine epidemic. It is not getting a lot of attention. It has spread to small middle/upper middle class towns all over the place. Doctors are oversubscribing narcotic pain killers and people get addicted. Then they either graduate to heroine or get cut off the pain killers and switch to heroine. A lot of people are dying. the problem is not unique to Monroe or Redford or anyplace in particular. It is occurring in Lyon Township, Novi, Plymouth, Ann Arbor. . . everywhere. It is the same across the country. It is not more or less prevalent in Michigan than elsewhere.

it is not clear why it is being kept quiet. There has been a little media attention to it but not much.

Wow that's crazy. I always hear about Portage Central HS in Portage, MI having alot of students that do heroin as well.

[canudigit]

I agree that the heroin epidemic is a national problem and that most towns and cities, even nicer communities, have the same problem. Monroe's heroin problem has received more publicity than most because of the sad case of Dr. Linares and his pain clinic. Basically, back in the mid-2000s, Dr. Oscar Linares operated a pain clinic in Monroe where he would dispense vast amounts of prescription pain meds such as Oxycontin to pretty much anyone who walked through the door and then bill Medicare/Medicaid for them. By the time he got caught back in 2011, people from as far away as Tennessee and Illinois were driving to Monroe to get prescription pain meds from him and often selling them in his parking lot. Here is a link to the story:

Michigan doc arrested for prescribing 5M doses of narcotics, $5.7M Medicare fraud - USATODAY.com

Dr. Linares is in prison now and his pain clinic long gone, but he left a bunch of addicted people in his wake and thus why Monroe's heroin problem has received more publicity than most.

To the PP who is concerned: I would not let this dissuade me from considering Monroe as a place to live. Monroe is a very lovely city with a surprisingly busy downtown and riverfront. I worked in Monroe a few years ago as a home hospice nurse and some of the nicest people I have ever met live in Monroe and the surrounding area, and in all parts of town. Many people there are very church oriented, essentially Roman Catholic descendants of the early French settlers in the area or Southern Baptist descendants of the large number of Southern transplants in the area, and would give you the shirts off their backs. There are some good restaurants and most big box and other retail chains have stores in Monroe. There are some terrific community organizations and events and an active and supportive community overall. We love the River Raisin Jazz Festival/Downtown Arts Fair that is held along the riverfront every August and the Monroe County Fair which takes place in late July/early August.

If you do decide to move to Monroe, avoid the extreme eastern edge of town, it is the worst part. Just as anywhere else, use caution in public parking lots, etc. as there are a few scattered reports every year of someone getting a purse snatched in the Kroger or Meijer parking lot or wherever, but these things happen in any city the size of Monroe, unfortunately, since we live in a country where so many people feel the need to use drugs and need to find a way to buy them. I know several people who live in Monroe and none of them have ever experienced a crime committed against them or their property. Just like most places, most crime in Monroe happens between people who know each other and is not random.

[webdox]

Originally Posted by canudigit

If you do decide to move to Monroe, avoid the extreme eastern edge of town, it is the worst part.

We are looking in Monroe, Frenchtown area... Nice houses by the water. So you are saying if you move to Monroe stay West of 75? We are looking just north of Sterling State Park between Dixy Hwy and the water. Is that a bad spot? Please and thank you for any advice you can give. Don't want to make a 200K mistake. Are there zip codes, specifically, to avoid?

WebdoX

[Violetdream]

Thank you Canudigit for addressing my concern. I haven't heard about that doc, but heard so much about the heroin. That makes sense why it is such an issue.

[MI-Roger]

Originally Posted by webdox

We are looking in Monroe, Frenchtown area... Nice houses by the water. So you are saying if you move to Monroe stay West of 75? We are looking just north of Sterling State Park between Dixy Hwy and the water. Is that a bad spot? Please and thank you for any advice you can give. Don't want to make a 200K mistake. Are there zip codes, specifically, to avoid?

WebdoX

No, I believe the area you were cautioned about is located between downtown Monroe and I-75. I work at Fermi-II and am familiar with the areas along Dixie Hwy between Sterling State Park and Newport. I haven't seen anything along Dixie Hwy that would cause me concern, or heard of such from co-workers who live in Monroe. Some of the older commercial properties in this area are a little ragged but others are nearly new. Lake front homes and neighborhoods in this area appear very nice.